So it's a Date?
by ebidebi
Summary: So, Rockett and Ruben...are they, or aren't they? I wrote this years ago to combat frustration of the books and games being dumped.
1. The Invitation

"Hey, Rockett!" Rockett, upon hearing her name, paused in her steps. She looked over her shoulder.

"Why'd you stop?" Jessie asked, a few steps ahead of her. 

"I heard my--" Rockett began.

"There you are!" Ruben panted. He had dashed around the corner. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"You have?" Rockett said shyly, and maybe with a little bit too much excitement.

"I need to ask you something!" he replied.

"Sure," Rockett replied eagerly. "Ask away!"

"Um, well, you see . . ." he began, shyly looking away from Rockett.

"Yes . . ." she coaxed. Now she was curious. Jessie poked her in the ribs and smiled.

"I was wondering...if," he continued. The bell rang. Dilemma! Rocket shoved her left hand into her hair and cringed.

"Oh, Ruben, I'm _sooo_ sorry, but I can't be late to Math again! I'll get another detention! But, leave me a message or something! Bye, Ruben!" she called.

"Bye, Rockett," Ruben muttered, turning around. Rockett pouted as she slid into the classroom.

"Sorry," she added in a vain whisper. Jessie followed Rockett into the classroom.  
"What's wrong, Rockett?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. I guess I'll talk to Ruben later." 

"Hey Jessie, Rockett. What's going on?" Miko asked, sitting down behind the two of them.

"Hey Miko!" they said at the same time. Jessie giggled. Barely acknowledging Jessie with a smile, Miko whipped her head to Rockett, her smile wide.

"So, Rockett, saw you talking to Ruben out there! Are you two an item or what?" Miko inquired, reaching out to poke her friend's shoulder. Rockett's eyes bulged.

"We are NOT!" Rockett protested, blushing bright red. She had attracted more attention.

"Someone's defensive!" Cleve interjected.

"Uhh . . ." Rockett stammered. She groaned. Where had Cleve come from? Had he overheard, too? Soon, several kids had gathered around her, as her blush got deeper by the second. Just what she needed, more onlookers. Since when was she this popular? Rockett was suddenly even more thankful than usual that Nicole Whittaker wasn't in her math class.

"Rockett, come on, tell me!" Miko pried.

" He didn't even get to say what he wanted to," she supplied. "Look, he just probably wanted to ask me something about school."

"Whatever, Rockett," Miko replied, obviously not convinced.

"Yeah. He looked awfully intense for school stuff," Cleve put in.

"Were you watching, too, Cleve?" Jessie asked. Rockett felt suddenly guilty; she had forgotten all about Jessie. "You should mind your own business."

"Class, may we come to order?" the math teacher demanded. She was usually a laid back woman, but today was different. She seemed quite tense. This could only mean one thing. "Now, as you know, the National Math Competition is coming up soon, and last year, Miko and Arnold led us to second place," she began. A few people clapped for this.

"This year, I want us to go beyond our minds to the Mathematical Nirvana that I know we all can achieve. That's why I'm expanding our team to three or even four people! So! Do I have any volunteers?" the teacher asked.

Miko's hand shot up. "I'll be there to defend and surpass my title!" she shouted eagerly.

"Great!" the teacher replied.

"Count me in! Get it? _Count?_" Arnold cried, letting out a snorting laugh.

"Excellent! Any others?" she asked. This question was followed by a long silence. "Anyone?" The teacher hung her head. "Slackers," she muttered.

******

_"Hey Rockett, it's Ruben. And how's my favorite new girl? Well, I guess you're not so new anymore. So, I have to ask you something. If I don't see you, call me tonight. Umm, see you later, new girl."_

Rockett found a message from Ruben on her GMG after class.

"Listen to that," Dana sneered. "How romantic."

"Mind your own business! And besides, it's nothing," Rockett told her.

"How do you know?" Dana replied. "He wanted to _ask _you something." She practically made a Broadway play out of drawling the word "ask."

"So what?"

"I think you _know_ what that means," she added.

"What? Hey, I want to ask _you_ something: Why do you care?" Rockett asked.

Dana let out an exasperated groan. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Chill, you guys!" Nakili said, sliding up next to Dana. "I'm having a really good day, and I don't want you bringing me down!"

"Sorry," Rockett replied.

"Yeah, sorry, Nakili," Dana apologized.

"Why are you apologizing to me? You should be saying sorry to each other!" Nakili ordered.

"I guess. Sorry I blew up at you, Dana. It's kind of a touchy subject," Rockett muttered.

"Yeah. I'll keep out of your love life," Dana resolved.

"Whoa, girl!" Nakili interjected at Rockett. "Love life?" She had switched gears completely; from peacemaker to gossip in less than ten seconds.

"There _is no _love life! Ruben just left me a message, saying he needed to ask me something, that's all!" Rockett was getting pretty tired of relaying this story.

"Ooh, girl! You are scoring some major points with _that_ boy!" Nakili cried.

"There aren't any points! We're just friends!" Rockett fumed, he face suddenly matching the hue of her hair.

"Whatever, Rockett. I'll believe it when I see it," Nakili replied.

"I see what you mean about a touchy subject! Someone mentions Ruben, and our little Rockett is ready to blast off," Dana joked.

"I'm sorry. I haven't been having the best of days," Rockett explained. "I gotta go eat lunch. See you guys in Art class!" With that, Rockett dashed off to the cafeteria, hoping that it would temporarily slip Miko and Dana's minds that they all had lunch together. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice someone approaching her in the hallway.

"Rockett!" Ruben said, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Yaaaa!" she cried, dropping her home-packed lunch.

"Oh, man! Sorry, my bad," he apologized, bending offer to help pick it up.

"That's okay, you just surprised me," Rockett replied. "Thanks for helping me clean up."

"Hey, it was my fault. Should have noticed that you were off in space there, Rockett." Pause. "No pun intended, honest!" Pause. "So, uh, Rockett, want to walk to lunch with me?" he asked shyly. "I mean, since we're both headed for the same place."

"Sure," Rockett answered. She fell into step with him as they walked.

"Well, Rockett, I wanted to ask you...well, you know my band, Rebel Angels?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"My brother Carlos wants us to play at his party. It's his birthday, and he said...he said I could to bring a date. Everyone does," he explained. Rockett perked up, but went into her shy mode.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. Pretty strange, huh? Well, I wondered, since you see to like the band and since you're a friend of mine...would you be my date?" he finally spat out. "I mean, just as friends."

"I...I'd love to, Ruben. When is it?" she asked.

"Saturday, eight o'clock, my house. I can tell you where that is. And don't worry, my mom and my stepdad will be there, chaperoning, so it should be cool with your folks," he continued.

"I'm sure it will be," she answered. Rockett was about to burst with excitement. Maybe Dana was right about her and Ruben.

"That's great! So, will you sit with me at lunch so we can work out the details?" he suggested.

"Sure. I'll sit down while you get your lunch," she told him, sitting down.

"Cool," he replied. As soon as he walked away, Rockett whipped out her journal.

_Meggie, you will NEVER believe what just happened to me! Remember Ruben Rosales, the guy who calls me "new girl"? Well, he asked me to come to his brother's party. A real party!!! I only hope that some of my other friends can come too, so I won't have to make conversation with Ruben the whole time--I'd be too nervous! I barely got the nerve to talk to him today, but I'm glad I did. I'll_

"Did I just see what I think I just saw, Rockett?" Jessie asked, sitting down next to Rockett. "Ruben asking you on a date?"

"You saw, Jess! But it's just a friendly thing. See? Here comes Ruben now."

"Hey Jessie," he said, sitting down. "Hey, you remember my brother Carlos?"

"Of course! He used to baby-sit me when I was little," she explained to Rockett. "Isn't his birthday coming up?" She un-wrapped her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took a bite.

"Yeah. He's having a party. You can come, I'm sure he won't try to embarrass you. The only thing is, you'd probably want to bring a date," Ruben said. "Carlos's orders," he added, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah. So you're taking Rockett, hmm?" Jessie inquired. Rockett's eyes widened. It was one of those rare moments where she felt like she was underestimating Jessie. That was a pretty bold thing to say.

"Ummm, right. But just as friends. Hey, how'd you know?"

"Lucky guess. Maybe I've been around Mavis a lot lately and I'm catching the 'sixth sense'," she replied. Rockett grinned.

"Soooo, did I hear something about a party?" Cleve asked slyly, sitting down by Ruben. Max followed.

"Yes you did. Carlos's birthday bash/Rebel Angels Gig. He doesn't want too many junior high kids there, so I guess that's why he made up this date rule," Ruben mused. "Scare us away. If you ask me, it doubles the number, but whatever."

"Date rule?" Max asked.

"Yeah. You have to bring a date to the party."

"That's cool. Hey, who's invited?" Cleve wondered aloud.

"Rockett and Jessie, and I guess you, too." Ruben answered in between bites.

"And I bet you invited Rockett to be the lucky little woman who you take, eh, Rosales?" Cleve added.

"We're just going as friends, Cleve," Rockett protested.

"Ahhh, so you are going together! Say, Ruben, I do believe that this is your first date!" Cleve announced.

"And what about you, Ms. Movado, or should I say 'Mrs. Rosales'!" Max added.

"You guys are terrible!" Rockett told them. It came out playfully, but she sort of meant it.

"Yeah, lay off," Ruben suggested. Maybe she was imagining it, but she noticed a little irritability in his voice, too.

"I think your party will be cool even if you just go with your friends, Ruben," Jessie said. Rockett nodded. 

"Well, it starts at eight o'clock. This Saturday," Ruben reminded them.

"We know, we know," Cleve replied.

"Since we're all just going as friends, do you want to go with me, Jessie?" Max asked, a little bit too shyly. "Just as friends, unlike the couple of the year over there."

"Really? You want to go with me?" she replied, blushing profusely.

"Why not?" Max answered. His air of nonchalance was not convincing.

"Sure, I guess!" Jessie answered. Rockett smiled at her. She felt really good that Jessie was included; Jessie could be pretty sensitive, and she needed the self-esteem boost.

"Well, I gotta go, so I'll see you kids later," Cleve announced, getting up.

"I gotta split, too," Max added, stealing one last look at Jessie. Both of the boys left.

"So, Rockett . . ." Ruben began. Jessie got the hint.

"See you later, Rockett," she whispered, leaving, with a wink.

"Well, Ruben, it'd be kind of dumb for you to pick me up--" Rockett stated.

"But I can," Ruben interrupted. Rockett blushed.

"You don't have to. Just call me or e-mail me tonight if you want to talk more. I gotta go to art class," she told him. She didn't want to leave, but she only had two minutes before art, and it would be a bit of a jog to make it on time. 

"Then I guess it's _adios _for now, Rockett," he called as she left. Once in the hall, Rockett felt the buzz of her GMG in her pocket. She took it out an looked at the screen.

_"So, Rockett, you have a date with Ruben . . . Good move. Didn't I tell you the Elf Rune would work? How do I know this, you're wondering? Sixth Sense. I'll speak with you later. This is Mavis, if you didn't figure it out. Goodbye."_

Mavis was weird sometimes. No, make that most of the time.

"Hey, Miko!" Rockett cried, seeing her friend in the hallway, just outside the art room.

"Rockett! Jessie told me about your big date! You're _so_ lucky! Ruben is really nice _and_ cute," Miko exclaimed.

"Shh! Not so loud, Miko!" Rockett hushed.

"Oops, sorry," Miko apologized. But Dana's attention had already been attracted.

"Rockett Roslaes, how cute," she quipped.

"You know, Dana, you aren't the first to say that, and it's no less aggravating now! We're just going as friends. It's his brother Carlo's birthday party, not some Charity Ball!" Rockett informed her, ripping up a picture of her and Ruben in formal black and whites in her mind's eye.

"Sure. We all know how bad you're crushing on Ruben," Dana retorted.

"She does have a point, Rockett," Miko agreed.

"Will you guys cut it out? Ruben's just my friend," Rockett declared.

"Interesting, Rockett. Well, I'll talk to Ruben and get myself invited to that party. Then I can see up front just how good of friends you are," Dana cackled. Miko shrugged.

"Just ignore her when she gets like this," Miko whispered to Rockett.

The three of them walked into Mr. Rarebit's room, Rockett a confused mess of emotions. On the one hand, she liked all the attention. Especially all the attention from Ruben…but she was also nervous. Was this really a date?

Note: Wow. While rummaging through my hard drive, I found this. I wrote it like, three years ago. Decided to post it and up the count of Rockett's World fanfics to two.


	2. Is it or isn't it?

"Meg! I am at a total loss here!" Rockett wailed, during her weekly long-distance chatterbox session with her far away best friend.

"Sounds like a date to me, Rock, and I know you're crazy about him. You're always talking about the guy, so go for it! Besides, he'd be crazy not to like you! Just make sure you look awesome. Like, do your hair up like a rock star!"

"Well, of course! I'm just a little nervous, is all. Hey, how's Bryson? That cute new guy you told me about?" Rockett asked, twisting her phone's purple cord around her right hand's index finger.

"Oh my gosh, Rock, didn't I tell you? He started dating Katy, can you believe it?" To the untrained ear Meg's excited voice gave the impression that she was happy about this development, but Rockett knew better. Even when delivering bad news, Meg's giddiness never ebbed.

"Katy? Are you serious?"

"I know! But she's totally changed so much, Rock, you wouldn't believe! She dyed her hair blonde, can you picture that?" Meg giggled.

"Meggie Muffin, are you serious?" Rockett could not picture Katy Hermon, the shy brunette who couldn't ride the bus because of her motion sickness blonde and dating the cute jock Bryson that Meg had described to her.

"Completely."

The girls continued giggling and reminiscing right up until Mrs. Movado yelled up the stairs to her daughter some half an hour later. "Rockett, have you done your homework?"

Rockett groaned. "Ugh…Meg, I gotta go, homework calls."

"I understand, me too. But go for it with Ruben! You better email me some pictures!" Meg insisted.

"You bet," Rockett replied, grinning. Talking to Meg made things seem much easier to handle. Maybe it was because chatting with her best friend made her forget that she had a potential date on the horizon, but whatever it was, Rockett felt at ease about her life.

After promising to chat online later, the two best friends hung up, and Rockett set to work on homework. The longer she tried to work, the more that easy feeling that everything would be all right slipped away.

Rockett pulled her books out of her backpack and spread them out on her desk while mentally weighing the facts once more.

Ruben had asked her to the party. That was definitely a positive. He had to at least like her a little bit to do that. Also, he had been trying to track her down all day, which was another positive.

She started on her science homework.

There were some definite negatives, too. Ruben had made a point to say that they were just going as friends. So, maybe it wasn't a date. Being friends with Ruben was a good thing, but she was already friends with him.

That's when Rockett's mind jumped into the land of What Ifs.

What if he thought it wasn't a date, but she thought it was, and she got all dressed up and made a total fool out of herself? She'd lose the friendship and any potential for further developments!

But what if he thought it was a date and he didn't? Ruben would be totally bummed and probably go find some other girl who understood relationships. He was probably being totally obvious about whether it was a date or not, but Rockett was just too naïve to understand.

This stuff was supposed to come naturally, wasn't it? Juno had been on loads of dates by the time she was thirteen, which made Rockett feel a bit behind the game.

It was then that she realized that she had been staring at the same page for the past five minutes. Date or not, she would never get done if she didn't start now.

After about an hour and a half, she was done. There actually hadn't been much to do, just some math worksheets, a Science outline, and a little studying for an English test, but with distractions buzzing around in her head, it had taken much longer than she thought it would.

She turned on the computer in her room, signed on to her messenger program, and started to check her e-mail.

Before she could get very far, an instant message popped up on her screen.

**CleopatraJM****: **Hey, Rockett! What's up?

It was Jessie. Rockett smiled at Jessie's good internet grammar. Jessie never used symbols or abbreviations (her friend Whitney, on the other hand, was quite fond of them). Rockett typed a friendly reply. Her own screen name was somewhat of a joke, inspired by, Rockett loved this, Ruben.

When Jessie took a short while to respond, Rockett took the opportunity to log into her email program.

There was a message from (Rockett gulped) Ruben. Was he canceling? Rockett hovered her pointer over the message. She hesitated before opening it. The subject was neutral: "Hey!" It could be good news, or it could be…painful. Just as she was about to double click the email, Jessie's window started flashing.

**CleopatraJM****: **Did you get #34 on that math worksheet? I'm totally stumped.

**ArtsyNewGirl****: **Yeah, but it took me forever! It's a trick question. They're not looking for the sum, they're looking for the quotient.

**CleopatraJM****: **Oh! Duh, that seems so obvious now! I hate dodgy wording. Thanks, Rockett. Gotta go. Let me know if Ruben says anything!

**ArtsyNewGirl****: **Will do! Later, Jess.

Jessie signed off and once again, Rockett was faced with whether or not to open the email. She would just have to do it. She moved her pointer once again over the subject line of the email, when another message popped up.

**l33t0rch1d: **Greetings, fair Rockett! I hope the evening finds you well!

Arnold. Rockett couldn't help but giggle at his screen name. She hadn't understood it at first, but Arnold had explained it to her. She replied to him, and after determining that Arnold only wanted to talk, her attention went to her e-mail once again. There was nothing to it but to do it, so she braced herself for impact.

She clicked. Twice.

_Rockett__,_

_ Hey, chica! How's life tonight? Just wanted to confirm what the plans are for Carlo's birthday bash. Saturday. I'm picking you up, okay? Around seven? Gotta be there early to rehearse, if that's cool with you. I'll be online sometime tonight, so hopefully I'll catch you. Otherwise, see you in school._

_ -Ruben_

Wow. How did he manage to be so cute, even in writing? He was going to pick her up…Rockett sighed. How would she ever make it to Saturday? It was only Wednesday night!

But she still didn't know whether or not it was a date. Maybe Juno would know? She sent her sister a message, but got an automatic response that said that Juno was at biology lab and wouldn't be back until late.

For a moment, Rockett considered just flat out asking Ruben if it was a date if he came online, but then he might think that she was a pushy, desperate weirdo.

'Whoa, slow down!' Rockett thought. She was jumping to conclusions left and right. By tomorrow, news of the maybe-date would be all over school, and she would have to be prepared for it. Freaking out would not help her one bit. Maybe she just had to think about something else for the rest of the night. She signed off and shut down her computer.

"Jasper!" she yelled, heading to her door. "I challenge you to a Tetris Tournament!"

"Oh, you are so on!" replied her brother. The two of them played video games until they were each sent off to bed.

Rockett had relaxed a bit, and the combination of anxiety and excitement had taken its toll on her. She fell right asleep, still fully aware that she had no idea what to do.

* * *

I updated! And you all thought I wouldn't. Sorry that this chapter is shorter, it's a little hard to put myself in the mindset. Hopefully, it won't take me a year to make the next chapter.


End file.
